Sefer ha-Chinuch
-- author unknown --

The Sefer ha-Chinuch (Hebrew: ‫ספר החינוך‎, "Book of Education"), often simply "the Chinuch" is a work which systematically discusses the 613 commandments of the Torah. It was published anonymously in 13th century Spain. The work's enumeration of the commandments (Hebrew: ‫mitzvot‎; sing. mitzvah) is based upon Maimonides' system of counting as per his Sefer Hamitzvot; each is listed according to its appearance in the weekly Torah portion and the work is structured correspondingly.

The "Book of Education" separately discusses each of the 613 commandments, both from a legal and a moral perspective. For each, the discussion starts by linking the mitzvah to its Biblical source, and then addresses the philosophical underpinnings of the commandment (here, termed the "shoresh", or "root"). Following this, the Chinuch presents a brief overview of the halakha(practical Jewish law) governing its observance - usually based on Maimonides' Mishneh Torah - and closes with a summary as to the commandment's applicability.

Because of this structure, the work remains popular to this day. The philosophic portions are widely quoted and taught, while the legal discussion provides the basis for much further study inyeshivot. The Minchat Chinuch by "Rabbeinu Yosef" (Yosef Ben Moshe Babad, 1800–1874), Av Beit Din of Ternopil, serves as a legal commentary.